Lepkowski, Merrill vying for N.H. House seat

DURHAM — Voters in Durham and Madbury will elect a new state representative Tuesday to fill the Strafford County District 6 seat left vacant when Democrat Phil Ginsburg resigned.

The race pits Diedre Lepkowski, a Republican seeking political office for the first time, against Democrat Amanda Merrill, who served more than a decade in the N.H. House and Senate.

The winner of Tuesday’s election will serve the remaining year of Ginsburg’s term, which expires after the 2014 election. He resigned in September because he was moving to Newmarket, which is outside the district.

Madbury voters will cast ballots at Town Hall, while Durham residents will vote at Oyster River High School. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Lepkowski, 44, of Madbury, is running as a moderate Republican in a district that leans Democratic.

She is opposed to new broad-based taxes in New Hampshire and pledged to keep spending in check. She has not formed an opinion yet on proposals to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

If elected, Lepkowski promised to work across party lines on “common sense” legislation.

“I think it’s really important that we work together as a whole in a way that will benefit the state and the community as opposed to picking extremists on either end,” she said this week.

Lepkowski moved to Madbury almost 10 years ago. She works as a substitute teacher at Oyster River Middle School and also works part-time for the town of Madbury and a Dover photographer.

Merrill, 62, of Durham, served in the N.H. House from 1989 to 1998 and served in the N.H. Senate from 2009 to 2012. She said her experience and contacts in Concord would be an asset during the next legislative session.

“I am ready to go back and I know the ropes and I know a lot of the issues going on,” Merrill said in a recent interview.

If elected, Merrill said she would promote energy efficiency and alternate energy programs in New Hampshire. She would vote for the Medicaid expansion if several issues surrounding the implementation can be resolved.

Merrill has two children, including a son, Sam Fuld, who is a major-league baseball player. Her husband, Ken Fuld, is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at University of New Hampshire.

She serves on several boards, including the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and the N.H. State Council on the Arts.

The special election is the only item on the Tuesday’s ballot, and turnout is expected to be moderate at best, according Kitty Cornwell, Madbury’s town clerk and tax collector. She said special elections are extremely rare.

Running the election is expected to cost Durham about $2,000. Cornwell expected it would cost Madbury a few hundred dollars.

The winner of Tuesday’s vote likely will be sworn in before the new legislative session begins early next year. The winner won’t change the balance of power in the Democrat-controlled N.H. House.